The present invention has particular utility in cleaving hard crystals into relatively thin segments or slices. A typical example involves cleaving a lithium fluoride crystal into crystal segments having a thickness in the order of 1/32 inch.
In the past such crystals have generally been cleaved by hand methods involving, for example, a sharp blade and hammer but with varying degrees of success. Like diamond cutting, these methods require a skill obtained only through a considerable amount of costly practice. Even under optimum conditions, there existed a certain lack of precision and reliability. Control over the thickness has also been difficult to maintain and as the thickness of a cleaved crystal approaches 1/32 inch, breakage increases rapidly making the resulting yield not only small but relatively costly.
Heretofore the limited demand for extremely thin crystals did not provide a need for a machine to cleave crystals having these thicknesses. However, the crystal requirements for present day specialized optics applications has dictated otherwise.